Code Name - Rook (Jameson Force Security 6)

Jesus… I don’t know what the hell this is. Until I do, I’m not inclined to make a move to reveal my true self. I feel like it’s just self-preservation controlling my actions right now.

Jaime’s phone rings on the nightstand beside her. She pulls away from me, reaches an arm way back, and feels around for it. When she nabs it, she glances at the screen briefly before answering, “Hey, Brian… what’s up?”

Her brother. I haven’t met him the way I did Laney at the football game a week ago, but I’ve learned a little bit about him through Jaime. She loves him dearly, but he’s a source of frustration to her as well. I’ve not offered opinions one way or the other, because she hasn’t told me much and it’s just not my place.

Jaime listens to her brother, the smile she just had on her face as she answered the phone slipping away. Her mouth presses tight, and her brows draw inward.

“Seriously, Brian?” she asks, clearly incredulous over whatever he just said.

She listens some more before sighing. “When can you come by?”

Whatever he replies causes her to sit up straight in bed. “Okay… just stay put. I’ll be right there.”

Jaime disconnects the phone, tosses it on the nightstand, and rolls out of bed. I watch as she nabs her robe and slips into it. Turning to me, she explains. “My brother Brian is here. In the hallway. I’ll be right back.”

Not much information, but I get her message loud and clear. She wants me to stay here, and I’ll abide by it.

She slips out of the room, then closes the door behind her. I resist the urge to get out of bed and creep to the door to listen. I hear some muffled sounds, both talking in low voices, but Jaime sounds angry.

The conversation is short. Within just a few minutes, she’s slipping back into her bedroom.

While I wish it were otherwise, she doesn’t remove her robe, merely comes to the edge of the bed and sits on it, angling to face me. Her expression says all I need to know. She’s bothered by her brother’s visit.

“Want to talk about it?” I ask hesitantly.

She sighs. “My brother needed money. It’s not the first time, and I’m frustrated with his inability to take care of himself.”

I know he lives with her parents, but not much more. “Doesn’t he work?”

Jaime shakes her head, muttering. “Not at anything for long.”

“And why does he need money?”

“I don’t know,” she grumbles, flopping down on the bed beside me. She rolls to her back, laces her hands over her stomach, and stares at the ceiling. “I asked him point-blank if it was drugs, but he swore it wasn’t. It was just a cash-flow problem on a job he finished recently.”

“What job?”

Jaime rolls her head to look at me, her cheeks slightly pink. “I don’t ask for details. Is it bad I don’t want to know?”

“No,” I say with a smile. “You don’t want to know if it’s bad.”

I resist the urge to offer to check him out. It’s something I could easily do through Jameson, but I’m not ready to blow my fake job cover, and I don’t want to have to explain how I would be able to check him out.

Instead, I merely say, “You could always say no to his requests.”

“I know, I know,” she mutters with a sour expression. “I tell my parents all the time that they’re enabling him by letting him live at their house without requiring him to contribute. I’m doing the same damn thing.”

“Why are you doing it?”

Her expression turns to worry. “Because I’m afraid if I don’t, something bad will happen to him.”

Without a doubt, I know in my gut he’s into something bad. If Jaime is feeling that way, I will trust her judgment. I decide to text Bodie to ask him to run a background check on her brother. I’d do it myself, but I have no intention of leaving Jaime for the rest of the weekend. We’ve made plans to spend it together, and there isn’t anywhere else I’d rather be right now.CHAPTER 7JaimeThe weekend has gone by too fast in my opinion. Before meeting Cage, I actually looked forward to Mondays because my job is important to me. I love it so much that it is not a chore to head into the office to start a week that will be filled with as much strife and heartache as it will victories and rewards.

But after spending this entire weekend with Cage, I don’t want tomorrow to come. I want one more day because it’s been perfect in every way.

He brought a weekend bag with him on Friday night as we planned. Or rather, he had planned it. Saturday morning, we had a late brunch out at a popular restaurant. We went to the Warhol museum, then for fun, we hit River’s Casino. I’m not much of a gambler, and I’d only been one other time. Neither is Cage, but he had never been.